December 24, 2012 - 11:04 AMT
Dozens killed in air strike on bakery in Syria

Dozens of people have been killed and many wounded in a government air strike on a bakery in Syria's central Hama province, opposition activists say, according to BBC News.

The incident took place in Halfaya, a town recently captured by rebels. If activists' reports of 90 deaths are confirmed, this would be one of the deadliest air strikes of the armed conflict.

Syrian state TV blamed an "armed terrorist group" for the attack, saying the group had then filmed the incident to blame it on government troops.

Rebels have been fighting President Bashar al-Assad for 21 months, with opposition groups saying more than 44,000 people have been killed.

The latest violence comes as the joint United Nations-Arab League special envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, arrived in Damascus to discuss ways to end the unrest.

Unverified video footage purportedly of the incident's aftermath showed graphic images of bloody bodies strewn on a road outside a partially destroyed building. Rescuers were trying to remove some of the victims buried beneath piles of bricks and rubble. Several badly damaged motorbikes could be seen scattered near the site of the attack which had drawn a number of armed men to the area.

The UK-based opposition activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said more than 50 of the wounded were in critical condition and the death toll could rise.